THE MURDER GAME
BEVERLY BARTON
ISBN: (13) 978-0-8217-7690-2/ 10) 0-8217-7690-8
February 2008
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Ave, 16th floor, New York, NY 10022
Paperback
$6.99/$9.99
432 pages
Romantic Suspense
Rating: 5 cups

Nicole Baxter is determined to prove herself time and time again. She is willing to fight for anything and everything. She may sometimes come across as bull headed but she has good intentions at heart. Because her past nags her, she may have to work on loving the present.

Griffin Powell plays by his own rules. He wants no strings attached in any aspect of his life whether it is work or play. He does not make promises he cannot keep. His past also pulls at him and he does his best not to let it destroy him. His closest friends help him because they also had tough times that they were able to get through together.

The possibility of a second man involved in the past murder case is driving Nicole crazy. She cannot prove it and the only person who believes her is someone who reminds her of everything she hates. She thinks Griffin is not a good man because he does things however he needs to; not always following the rules that she is required to follow. It looks as though they might have to work closely together in order to solve this next case and that is the last thing Nicole wants. Especially when they both seem to be getting phone calls from the second person involved. The hunter is making them follow his rules and neither Griffin nor Nicole wants to follow them. However, there seems to be no other way to get the clues that they need. It all comes down to trust and quick thinking on both their parts. But will it be worth it or will it come back to haunt them?

Ms. Barton proves once again that she can write suspenseful fiction. She is able to create situations not easily solved but, if the characters dig deep enough, they can be. The romance that happens keeps things light but the main goal is to catch the guy behind it all. Nicole has issues and needs to learn to ask for help. Griffin has had help and might be what Nicole needs. I loved this story not only for the well-developed characters but also for the fact that they had to learn to work together. I could not get enough of them. The details in this book were enough to give one an idea of what happened to the victims but were never gruesome. This is one author who is on my list of favorites.

Krista
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books